Carrot, coriander & ginger soup

Today we started the 5:2 fasting diet and today was a fasting day. So I made the carrot soup in the every day cookbook. We didn't have cream or butter so I left them out (there was storms outside, and also cut down the calories). It was delicious! Definitely a regular event.

Beef ragout

This week has been nephew cake making week. My mum was an amazing cake maker - she even made our wonderful wedding cake. My husband was interested in learning how to decorate cakes and mum taught him. They used to make my niece and nephews birthday cakes together. Husband has continued making the cakes. While he loves doing it and wouldn't stop for the world, each cake takes 3 nights work and a mountain of hours. So during cake week, meals become quick and easy. Often resulting in take away. I wanted home cooked meals this week. It has been a cold and long week. I wanted home comfort. So, for one night I made this Italian Beef Ragu. As normal I added more vegetables than in the recipe, and also some lentils. So easy, so quick. Served with a french breadstick (as I didn't make the piadinas) it was delicious - no leftovers, even the thermoserver was wiped clean with bread. 

Source: http://static.squarespace.com/static/51b56acee4b062dc341158ed/t/53245713e4b0d7985481d6c9/1394890521104/ (accessed 26.7.14)

Meat pie

I feed 2 men most nights. They love meat pies. This recipe was absolutely delicious and very simple to make. I also added a heap of mushrooms (I had gone to Costco to get, among other things, mushrooms for last nights pizza. I then had a surplus of mushrooms).

Corned beef with parsley sauce & steamed vegetables

Mum always made the most delicious corned beef/silverside with parsley sauce. The sauce was teaming with parsley, the vegetables just crunchy and the beef tender. It took hours in a pot on the stove. I found this thermomix recipe and have used it a couple of times. It is just as good as Mum's. Tho I still use the parsley sauce recipe she used (quadrupling the amount of parsley).

Pumpkin soup

Winter chill has finally arrived. The sun has been shining but the wind is coming off snow from the blue mountains and beyond. We got home late from my brother in laws birthday lunch so made pumpkin soup. 30 mins from start to finish & 25 minutes of those were watching tv & doing chores while it cooked.

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled & quartered 

1 clove garlic, peeled

Splash olive oil

500g butternut pumpkin, peel & roughly chopped into cubes

2 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped

1T vegetable stock

300g water

Method

1. Put onion & garlic in TM bowl, chop 7 secs/Speed 8
2. Add oil (no more than 1t), sauté 2 minutes/100 degrees/Speed 1
3. Add pumpkin & carrot, chop 15 secs/Speed 7
4. Add stock & water, cook 25 minutes/100 degrees/Speed 1
5. Add a little more water if too thick (no more than 100 grams)
6. Blend 30 secs going slowly from Speed 1 to Speed 9
7. Serve with teaspoon sour cream &/or coriander &/or crusty bread

Chorizo, bacon & basil pasta

Sometimes we need a quick and easy meal. This is it.

INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove
1 onion
1 carrot
1 cup baby spinach
1 cup basil leaves
2 cups passata sauce or 1 tin tomatoes
1 chorizo sausage
1 rasher bacon
1 cup pasta
Small amount of grated cheese (we use tasty or Parmesan)

METHOD

1. Blitz garlic, onion, carrot in mixing bowl on Speed 9/3 seconds
2. Add passata sauce or tomatoes, basil and spinach. Cook 100C/Speed 1/reverse/15 minutes. For the last 3 minutes removed to let the sauce reduce.
3. Put pasta on to boil in saucepan as per package instructions. Drain water when cooked.
4. Meanwhile cook the chorizo sausage in a fry pan. I cut it into rings and fry it, the crumble the rings when cooked. When done, put on paper towel to drain fat. 
5. Chop bacon into small squares. Fry in saucepan. When cooked, add chorizo to reheat.
6. Combine pasta and sauce in serving bowl, add bacon and chorizo them stir through.
7. Lightly sprinkle grated cheese on top. 
8. Serve.

Fish cakes

One of my uni flatmate's used to make the nicest fish cakes. I never knew the recipe so decided to make one up and hope for the best. Homemade fish cakes are awesome. These were delicious.

Ingredients:

500g fish (I used salmon but any firm fish would work)

1 slice bread (your choice which variety)

Zest of 1 lemon or lime if you have it

Small handful of parsley

1 egg

1 onion

1t dijon mustard

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1 large potato chopped into pieces

1/2 sweet potato chopped into large pieces

1/3 cup olive oil

Method:

1. Fill TM bowl with water (about half the bowl). Add potato and sweet potato. Cook Varoma/reverse/speed 1/20 minutes.
2. At same time add the fish to the TM steamer and steam fish while potatoes cooking.
3. Once potato's cook, drain by emptying TM bowl into colander
4. Grind bread, parsley and lemon zest Speed 9/4 seconds
5. Add egg, onion, dijon mustard and cayenne pepper into TM bowl. Chop Speed 5/3 seconds
6. Add fish, potato and sweet potato to TM bowl. Mix Speed 3/3 seconds
7. Form mixture into patties
8. Add olive oil to fry pan. Heat gently
9. Add fish patties to frying pan and saute until golden brown
10. Serve with favourite sauce and steamed vegetables or salad

Source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/07/article-1083944-02627D81000005DC-601_468x306.jpg  (accessed 4.5.14)

Spaghetti bolognese

Spag bol has always been one of my 'go to' meals - quick, easy, make extra and freeze for speedy meals at a later date. The only thing that took the time was chopping up all the vegetables. Tonight I chopped up a carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, beans, onion, and garlic in 5 seconds. Filled the mixing bowl with chopped up vegetables! Too easy. I am a bit of a fan of the slow cooked spag bol on the stove top - stirring it occasionally, developing the flavour, adding red kidney beans or maybe lentils to the beef mince mixture. So I did it that way, using the last of the tomato sauce made earlier in the thermomix. Next time I might try making it all in the thermomix.

Source: http://www.your-recipes-online.com/images/Spaghe46.jpg (accessed 9.4.14)

Slow cooked veal in red wine sauce

We had some veal in the freezer, red wine in the wine rack and homemade tomato pasta sauce in the freezer. I found a Donna Hay recipe that turned out absolutely delicious! I definitely think Thermy can double as a slow cooker for this recipe. I served the veal on mashed potato (done the old fashioned way in a pot) with vegetables steamed in the Veroma (added when the timer was at 20 minutes to go).

I used the same ingredients except only a touch of oil to fry off the onion and garlic in the thermomix, 2 cups of beef stock, and no bay leaf as we didn't have any.

Method:

(adapted from http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/slow-cooked-veal-in-red-wine)

1. Add onion and garlic to Thermomix mixing bowl. Chop Speed 8/3 seconds. Cook on 100C/reverse/2 minutes
2. Add tomato paste, cook 100C/reverse/1 minute
3. Add wine, cook on Veroma/reverse/3 minutes
4. Add tomato puree/sauce, cook 100C/reverse/1 minute
5. Add veal, stock, rosemary and cook 80C/reverse/60 minutes
6. Add beans, cook Veroma/reverse/3 minutes
7. Serve

As I have said before, Donna Hay recipes are awesome!!! 

Source: http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/slow-cooked-veal-in-red-wine (accessed 30.3.14)

Shredded beef

The slow cooker broke - massive crack appeared last time we used it... There ended my love affair with my slow cooker... It had been my cooking friend for a long time. There was nothing better than preparing dinner the night before, putting it in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a house that smelt delicious with minimal effort required after a long and tiring day at work.

Husband, Dad and I went to the Major League Baseball game at the Sydney Cricket Ground last night - Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks (Dodgers won). Husband wanted American food and couldn't decide what to eat. He eventually made a decision, but still kept carrying on about the pulled pork sandwiches. We didn't have any pork so I used beef. It was cooked in the thermomix. It was delicious.

I used this pulled pork recipe but used beef, and halved the quantity.

Method:
1. Marinaded the beef with all ingredients (except onion and garlic) for a few hours in the fridge. Chopped the meat into largish chunks
2. An hour before it was required, chopped onion and garlic in bowl 2 seconds/speed 8
3. Add marinaded meat and marinade to bowl
4. Cook in thermomix 60 minutes/reverse/speed 1
5. 50 minutes into cooking, scrape down bowl, and use the mixing spoon to pulverize the meat a bit. Cook for remaining 10 minutes with measuring cup removed. This shredded the meat and most of the excess liquid evaporated.

The meat was shredded and incredibly tender. Served with coleslaw and garden salad on whole grain wraps.

Vegan burger

Tonight we steamed sweet potato in the Thermomix varoma for the first time. Needless to say it wasn't a success. It refused to soften. So it continued to cook while we ate our roast lamb with other steamed vegetables. It still refused to cook properly so I decided to chop it in the mixing bowl and make Vegan falafel's to freeze for future meals as Vege burgers.

This Vegan falafel recipe is delicious. I used to live near Byron Bay and there was a beach cafe that did the most delicious vege burgers with satay sauce. This is the closest replica I can find. I don't use any flour and rarely have caraway seeds. Served with lots of shredded salad vegetables, tomato, and crispy lettuce with a fresh bun with mayonnaise one half of the bun and satay sauce on the other. Yummo! And a wonderful flashback to my uni undergraduate days. A good vege burger is hard to find, but delicious when you do.

http://thetolerantvegan.com/2011/08/baked-eggplant-burgers/ (accessed 9.2.14)

BBQ pork ribs

This is the most delicious pork ribs I know. Husband and Dad love pork ribs and it was a meal they used to buy when we went out for dinner. I was in Canada a few years ago visiting family and they served this. Needless to say I asked for the recipe. I now make a big batch and freeze for quick dinners - the meat is boiled then marinated so all that needs to be done is heated through in the BBQ or in the pan.

In a very large pot place:

                                    2 chopped carrots

                                    2 large onions cut in half

                                    1 bulb of garlic, inpeeled but cut in half

                                    4  bay leaves

                                    Some peppercorns

                                    2 celery stalks, chopped

Fill with water to approximately the level  that would cover the ribs if they were in the pot. Boil for about 30 minutes, then add the ribs, cover and simmer for  1 hour. Let the ribs cool at room temperature in a flat pan covered with the sauce.

Sauce:

In Thermomix add some ketchup, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, rice wine vinegar and red pepper flakes –  the sauce should be more brown than red. Heat the mixture on Speed 1/90 degrees/2 minutes or until the sauce bubbles.  Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Cook on Speed 1/50 degrees/ 5 minutes.

Source: http://www.reeds.co.za/sites/reeds.co.za/files/images/blogs/gallery/Pork_Spare_Ribs_tu0605.jpg (accessed 26.1.14)

Chicken and bacon roll with vegetables

Dad declared that he wanted meat for dinner - this was in the middle of the previous night's meal at a local sushi restaurant. So meat was to be on last night's meal. Husband searched the thermomix websites and cook books until he came up with what he considered a meaty meat dish. 

The Chicken and bacon roll in the TM Meat on the menu cook book fitted that bill. Husband was put in charge of making it. It took longer than the other recipes we have tried because it was fiddly (he had to butterfly the chicken, roll the stuffing into the chicken, and wrap the chicken in bacon). It turned out surprisingly good. The chicken was tender and held it's rolled shape. Next time I would probably make some white wine sauce to accompany the chicken.

I steamed some vegetables and made mashed potato to accompany the meat. 

Dad was happy with his meat meal.

Pizza

Pizza has always been one of those meals we just buy. However, a lot of pizza's upset my tummy so we are limited in where we can get them from and it all got too hard. So we rarely had pizza. Ironically we have more pizza when we are with my niece with coeliac than any other time as we go to Italian restaurants that guarantee gluten free pizza.

Without a doubt my favourite pizza is mushroom pizza, or potato and rosemary pizza (but I have only ever had a few good one's of those in Italy and alas I don't live in Italy so I don't order it here anymore).

My consultant provided me with a link to an amazing perfect pizza dough recipe from the Thermomix online community recipes. O my... too easy! I received the recipe this morning so there was no time for overnight rising in the fridge (next time that will happen). Home made tomato paste, mushrooms and a sprinkling of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. No more store bought pizza's!

Steamed salmon and vegetables

A simple and delicious meal that is on our menu each week. Wanting to continue this weekly meal I decided to give it a try in the thermomix. Corn on the cob took 20 minutes in the bottom tray of the varoma (Varoma/Speed 3). The salmon pieces were put in the top section of the varoma at 7 minutes remaining (this was probably a bit too long). The other vegetables (asparagus, julienned carrot, zucchini, onion) were added to the corn with 4 minutes to go. Delicious!

Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFx5Mk3nlmeGlioRqFjFFUyycZgLLl3jMeaFrr30u3WyD4YYn9XdSmg3etgca2UIHBkCXyyig2R5jPsiO_pGYhcEdsPWi0f3hdyUhtz1zVQzayc9eZroPxsMNeQVlRULxMjG3LvkaP6dd/s1600/DSC_0094-1.jpg

(accessed 21.1.14)

Swedish meatballs and mashed potato

The heatwave has abated (and we just retuned from a weekend on the high seas) so there is not much in the cupboard that doesn't involve salads. Swedish meatballs and mashed potato from the Thermomix Meat on the menu book was finally decided upon. The entire meal was cooked in the thermomix, using the varoma to cook the meatballs while the sauce was simmering.

The meatballs were delicious with heaps of additional vegetables hidden in the mix. The sauce was lovely. With mashed potato it was a very cream coloured meal! I had better success with the mashed potato this time by cutting the potato into little cubes.

Chicken veloute

This is the Thermomix demo meal. What a success and included leftovers for a quick meal the next night. I am thinking I could use salmon or a firm white fish with this also (though that would be a very white meal!).

I use the Everyday cookbook Potato and leek soup recipe with a dash of dijon mustard added to make the sauce for the chicken. Steam the chicken with some baby thyme leaves in the bottom of the Veroma and vegetables on the top level of the Varoma. Wallah! Impressive and tasty meal.

Gruyere souffle

Never having had a souffle husband thought it would be a good idea to make it. I had always heard stories about how hard they are to make and imminent deflation when removed from the oven. 

Husband followed the TM Everyday cookbook Cheese souffle recipe. It worked! Impressive. Tasty, served with a green salad and coleslaw.

Source: http://www.delightdulce.com/2011/11/cheese-souffle.html (31.12.13)

Beef stroganoff & mashed potato

The first real foray into a Thermomix made meal. And what a success!!! Both recipes were from the TM (I am getting used to the jargon) Everyday Cookbook. We had to have the instruction manual open to identify different parts of the Thermomix required for the recipe.

Beef stroganoff
Firstly, the Beef stroganoff worked a treat. So easy! I added extra vegetables as we normally have a minimum of 5 different vegetables every meal.  The stroganoff was made 90 minutes before serving and kept in the Thermoserver. Wow! It was still steaming hot at serving. Leftovers in the freezer for a quick weekday reheat meal.

Mashed potato
The mashed potato was interesting. Creamy, smooth and lovely, just had the consistency of paste. I halved the recipe as there was no way the three of us would eat 1kg of potato. It was very thick and sticky. Some tweaking of the recipe will be needed.